In different circumstances, the sixth edition of the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals would be taking place this week at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre in Chengdu, China. The event, which has this year been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has become synonymous with fantastic on-court action as the best junior players from the previous 12 months do battle for silverware. The ITF Junior Finals is more than just another tournament, however, as the players who qualify are treated to a host of cultural experiences, including much-cherished visits to the famous Chengdu panda sanctuary, and receive travel grants totalling up to $15,000 depending on their finishing position. The competition is very much a gateway to the professional arena and, despite only being five years old, has provided some tremendous memories. Each day this week, the ITF will be reliving an edition of the tournament. Today, we rewind to 2018.

Anyone who watched Roland Garros this year will have seen home favourite Hugo Gaston defeat three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka and take US Open champion Dominic Thiem to a fifth set.

Gaston’s heroics in Paris, where he reached the fourth round, are just one example of how the ITF Junior Finals’ class of 2018 are landing considerable blows on some of the biggest stages.

Despite the difficulties which 2020 has presented, Canada’s Leylah Annie Fernandez, for instance, has enjoyed a whirlwind period and now boasts a career-high world ranking of No. 89.

During the past 10 months, Fernandez has won her maiden matches in the main draws of Grand Slams – she reached round three in Paris – contested a first Tour-level final and defeated a host of lofty opponents.

One of those victories saw the 18-year-old, who was crowned girls’ champion at the 2019 Roland Garros Junior Championships, overcome then-world No. 5 Belinda Bencic during Canada’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifier clash against Switzerland in February.

Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, who lifted Junior Grand Slam silverware at the Australian Open in January 2019, has also posted some notable scalps – Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori at last month’s ATP tournament in Rome – and is closing in on the Top 100.

The list continues. Wang Xinyu, Wang Xiyu and Clara Tauson, who has won six ITF World Tennis Tour titles since the start of 2019, are all in striking distance of the Top 100, while France’s Clara Burel has recovered from a long-standing injury to begin making her mark.

Perhaps more than anyone else it was Rennes-born Burel who gained the most from the 2018 ITF Junior Finals. She had enjoyed a hugely productive campaign but had developed an unwelcome habit of falling at the final hurdle.

This proved to be the case at two Junior Grand Slams – the Australian Open and US Open – as well as the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, while in total Burel lost five successive finals, something which could have defined her fledgling career.

But she showed intent from the outset in Chengdu and dismantled Maria Camila Osorio Serrano – a familiar foe having faced the Colombian in semi-final showdowns at the US Open and Youth Olympic Games – to ensure her silverware quest began in style.

A further victory followed against Luxembourg’s Eleonora Molinaro, while she was granted a walkover against Wang Xiyu who retired from the tournament due to injury. Burel then gained revenge on Liang En-Shuo – her Australian Open conqueror – in the last four.

Osorio Serrano, who joined the likes of Orlando Luz and Sebastian Baez in competing at the event for a second time, recovered from her opening-day setback to also reach the final, defeating the dangerous Tauson in the other semi.

In the final, Burel exorcised the ghost of those previous heart-breaking defeats to overcome Osorio Serrano for a second time in a matter of days – a result that sent her to the summit of the junior rankings, which in turn saw her crowned girls’ ITF World Champion for 2018.

“Chengdu was one of the most amazing and coolest tournaments I’ve ever played,” Burel told itftennis.com.

“Winning it meant so much to me and still does. I had some tough finals that year and it was very painful for me to lose every time so I was very happy to get my hands on the trophy.

“I look back with great fondness and I really enjoyed it. I loved being on court, competing on the amazing site and also being off court, spending some fun time with all the other players.”

It proved a tough day for Osorio Serrano but better were to come. She is one of four players – Musetti, Tauson and Fernandez being the others – from the 2018 Chengdu group who proceeded to win a Junior Grand Slam, while eight have been won by the them in total.

Two of those were claimed by Tseng Chun Hsin of Chinese Taipei as, prior to his arrival in Chengdu, he emulated France’s Gael Monfils, who achieved the feat in 2004, by winning a Roland Garros-Wimbledon double.

Tseng was understandably among the favourites to reign in the Far East and emerged from Group Shuai after ruthlessly brushing aside Chinese wild card Mu Tao, Colombia’s Nicolas Mejia and Adrian Andreev of Bulgaria.

Gaston – a Youth Olympic Games gold medallist in 2018 – was his opponent in the semi-finals and the encounter was tilting the Frenchman’s way until Tseng instigated a fightback from a set down to prevail 4-6 6-2 6-3.

Standing between Tseng and further silverware was Brandon Nakashima of the United States, who arrived in China declaring that Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori was his inspiration.

Ruusuvuori had famously defied the odds 12 months earlier and was crowned champion despite being the lowest-ranked player in the boys’ draw. Nakashima was in a similar position, although a precedent had been set.

Despite beating Gaston in the opening Group Yong match, San Diego-born Nakashima was struggling to qualify for the last four after losing to Argentina’s Baez and finding himself a set down to Musetti in the crunch encounter.

He recovered, progressed and duly overcame Andreev to take his place in the final, during which he was in inspired form and defeated Tseng, who was named 2018 boys’ ITF World Champion, in clinical style, winning 6-2 6-1. 

“Memories of the winning moment in the final brings a lot of emotion in my head,” Nakashima, who now attends the University of Virginia, told itftennis.com. “It definitely showed that my hard work paid off and that my goal for the year had been achieved.

“At the beginning of the year, I watched some highlight videos from the previous years of the ITF Junior Finals and I made it one of my goals to qualify for the tournament. Therefore, that winning moment and lifting the trophy is something I will never forget.

“The tournament definitely helped me as a player in terms of confidence, maturity and improving my game. Knowing that I was one of the top junior players in the world and that I could do well at any tournament was important.

“Winning also helped my development and showed me that I could, and indeed wanted to, play tennis professionally in the future.”

Nakashima treated himself to a celebratory ice cream in the hotel foyer, while at the farewell party later in the evening Tseng, with microphone in hand, formed one-third of a singing trio with Mu and Liang.

“Chengdu was my last junior tournament and I ended my junior career with such great memories,” Tseng told itftennis.com. “It was such fun having the best 16 players in one place – talking, doing activities and having fun together.

“It is a very good event and significant for any junior player. Only the best young players in the world compete there and it is a great way to improve.

“The tennis is great and an important learning experience. My main memory of the whole tournament was the Tweener point I won against Hugo Gaston in the semi-finals – a very good point.

“But it is much more than just tennis. There is the visit to the panda sanctuary, although, unfortunately, they were all sleeping, and the draw ceremony where we all dressed in traditional Chinese suits. I have great memories.”

Final placings:

Girls

1. Clara Burel; 2. Maria Camila Osorio Serrano; 3. Clara Tauson; 4. Liang En-Shuo; 5. Leylah Annie Fernandez; 6. Eleonora Molinaro; 7= Wang Xinyu and Wang Xiyu (both retired)

Boys

1. Brandon Nakashima; 2. Tseng Chun Hsin; 3. Adrian Andreev; 4. Hugo Gaston; 5. Lorenzo Musetti; 6. Nicolas Mejia; 7. Sebastian Baez; 8. Mu Tao